More bathing water inspections were carried out in Clare between January and September of this year than in the entirety of 2022.
Over 50 inspections took place in the month of September alone following the issuing of several ‘do not swim’ notices at popular Clare bathing spots.
Clare County Council’s Water Enforcement Team carries out routine inspections of the water quality at the county’s beaches and lakes to ensure it is of an ‘excellent’ standard.
As of May of this year, Clare has eight Blue Flag beaches which are beaches where the bathing water complies with the ‘excellent’ standard in accordance with the 2006 EU Bathing Water Directive.
These beaches are Ballycuggeran, Fanore, Kilkee, Lahinch, Mountshannon, Spanish Point, Whitestrand Doonbeg and Whitestrand Miltown Malbay.
However, following excessive rainfall during the summer months, a number of ‘do not swim’ notices have recently been issued by the local authority on the advice of the HSE, most recently at Mounstshannon and Ballycuggeran.
As a result, 236 bathing water inspections were carried out in Clare between the months of January and September which is 32% higher than the 179 carried out across all of 2022.
60 inspections took place in June, followed by 57 in July and 51 in September.
